249 
THE AUROCH. 
The European Bison, very imperfectly known, is 
said to inliabit the forests of Russia in Asia, but is 
also supposed to be thinly scattered in some of the 
wilder parts of Germany and Poland. It .is about 
six feet high at the shoulder. The fore parts are 
clothed with woolly hair above a foot in lengtli, grey 
or whitish. On the legs and under parts it becomes 
shorter, and is of a hlackish-hrown colour. The fore- 
head is convex, the horns short and pointed. The 
number of ribs on each side fourteen. They are 
said to live in small troops, and to have a groaning 
voice. It is the Auroch of the Germans. 
Dr von Jarocki gave the following account of the 
Auroch before the Meeting of Naturalists at Ham- 
burgh in 1830 : “ A remnant of these animals, which 
appear to have at one period existed in many parts 
of Europe, is still preserved in a wild state in the 
forest of Bialowiza in Poland, under the special pro- 
tection of the Russian Emperor, in which situation 
the author, who is Professor of Zoology in the Uni- 
vereity of Warsaw, has had opportunities of observ- 
ing them, and of collecting various facts respecting 
their habits and mode of life. 
“ The wild oxen of the forest of Bialowiza live 
c c 
VOL. IV. 
